ICv2 has talked with Sean Patrick Fannon of DriveThruRPG, the leading purveyor of RPG PDFs, who confirmed that his Website has managed to raise a total $178,900 for Haitian earthquake relief.  The money has already been transmitted to Doctors Without Borders.  Fannon told ICv2 that his contact at Doctors Without Borders was literally in tears when she learned of the size of the unexpected donation. 

Although a portion of the total was raised through $5 and $10 donations, which DriveThruRPG matched, the bulk of the funds raised came from $20 donations from contributors who received a bundle of 100 PDF products (all donated for free by publishers) that was worth close to $1,400 (see “Nearly $150,000 Raised for Haiti Relief”).  Fannon told ICv2 that he has never been prouder to be a member of the gaming community and he was still in awe of what the online group had been able to accomplish in a short time.

Some of the larger publishers including White Wolf and Pinnacle weren’t able to meet the deadline for the “bundle” of products.  Fannon explained that, in the aftermath of the quake, he felt that he had to act quickly and wasn’t able to accommodate publishers who missed the deadline.  However, since the need for aid for Haiti is going to be ongoing, and companies such as White Wolf and Pinnacle still want to help out, Fannon told ICv2 that a second relief campaign with a new bundle of products is likely to happen sometime during the next few months.